NEW WASHINGTON - It's going to be a little odd next season not seeing Phil Loy on the bench at Buckeye Central boys basketball games.

On Tuesday, after 14 years as head coach, he announced he was stepping down.

“I knew even at the beginning of the season that this could be a possibility, but I didn’t really think about it until after the season," Phil said. "I went back and forth quite a bit trying to weigh the pros and cons and prayed about it a bit. It was a tough decision and here after basketball was complete, the season, the state tournament, the all-star games, I kind of just thought it’s time."

Phil departs the position as the longest-tenured coach, with the most wins (185) at the school and a win as coach in the 2014 News Journal All-Star Basketball Classic.

He admits it's nice to have the title of winningest coach in school history, but hopes his replacement can do even better.

“I hope whoever replaces me can outlast me," Phil said. "We want some longevity and if you look at the history of Buckeye Central, in the early years in the '60s and '70s, we had coaches who were here for just one, two or three years, then we had some stability where coaches were here for longer periods of times.

"To go out of here with the most wins is great, it’s not the best winning percentage, but it’s up there ... hopefully that can continue with the next person.”

Buy Photo

Phil Loy coached his side to a win in the 2014 NJ All-Star Classic.(Photo: Daniel Melograna/News Journal)

In Phil's final season, the Bucks went 8-15 overall but were arguably the most improved team in the second half of the season, giving Upper Sandusky and Colonel Crawford scares late in the season.

“Record-wise was not what we want here, but the way the kids competed, the way we improved, I thought that was exactly what Buckeye Central basketball is," Phil said. "I thought we played a lot better in the second half of the season. There were some good highlights throughout the year including Max’s scoring night he had."

Phil was talking about seeing his son Max tie the school record for most points in a game when he dropped 45 against Ridgedale on Jan. 26. He also is able to leave the program doing something he'll never forget — coaching his sons Grant and Max.

"You want to go off on a good note. Even though we didn’t have the season we wanted this year, I felt like this was a good time for me to go, especially with my two sons being done. That opens up opportunities to enjoy family more,” Phil said.

The year Grant and Max linked up on the court in the 2015-16 season — a year when the Bucks finished second in the Northern 10 — is one of the three most memorable seasons Phil recalls.

“The two years we were pretty successful (2006-07 and 2013-14) and ended up making a tournament run and getting to the regionals," Phil said. "I was fortunate to have a lot of special teams, a lot of great kids and a lot of great athletes. Those two teams were very special to me for what they were able to accomplish.

"The third one that sticks out a lot was the year both of my boys were able to play together. That was a really neat year as a father and a coach.”

Max and Grant both sent out tweets congratulating their father on his career and were among several people, friends and foes, to reach out.

Buy Photo

Phil Loy led the Bucks to a pair of regional semifinal appearances in his 14 years as coach.(Photo: Daniel Melograna/News Journal)

“It was really neat to see what both of them did put on Twitter, and a lot of people have put good stuff on Twitter. That was really special," Phil said. "Whether it was through Twitter, text messages or emails today, it has been a pretty neat day to hear from a lot of people I’ve come across in my coaching career.”

Max's tweet included a line about their Wi-Fi at home which gave Phil a good laugh when reading it.

“There were so many nights Max might be upstairs watching Netflix and I’d say ‘Max, you cannot watch Netflix tonight because I have to watch two games,'" Phil said. "There were so many times where the Wi-Fi was not good and I’d be watching film and it would last about 10 seconds then pause for five seconds. It was so frustrating and it was funny that he put that because he would hear me complain a lot throughout the season about how the Wi-Fi was not good and he wasn’t allowed to be on the Wi-Fi if I wanted to watch film.”

The biggest thing he's going to miss is just working with the kids to help them grow as both players and individuals.

“The practice times are invaluable. You just love working with kids every day in the gym. I’m going to really miss that," Phil said. "The games are fine and OK, but more so the practice times, interacting with the kids every day throughout the season.”

Next up is the difficult task of finding a replacement because, as the athletic director, Phil has to replace himself.

“We want to get the right person in here. We want to carry on the tradition of Buckeye Central basketball and be able to get the most out of these kids," Phil said. "We have some teaching positions available and we’ll see if anybody qualified to coach basketball applies for those positions. If not, we’ll continue to open it up and get who we are happy with.

"It will be tough and that’s the thing that’s going to be most difficult for me, getting somebody after I’ve done it for 14 years. You want to turn it over to someone and you want it to be in good hands to take it and run with it."

Phil said knowing he'll still be around the game as the AD made the decision "a little easier" to make.

Buy Photo

Phil Loy was named All-TF Coach of the Year in 2014 and 2016.(Photo: Mike Dornbirer/Telegraph-Forum correspondent)

“If I was just stepping away and not stepping in the gym again other than to watch a game, that would be very difficult," Phil said. "I’m still going to be heavily involved as far as being in the gym and being around the game.”

His parting words to everyone in the community, coaches, family, media members and anyone who helped him along the way was simply "thanks."

“To stay in coaching this long, it’s tough these days and you have to surround yourself with good people, good coaches. You have to have support and you have to have good kids," Phil said. "There are a lot of places where it’s very tough, and I think that’s why coaches get out before they want to. I was fortunate to coach as long as I wanted to and go out on a good note.